Re: So what should a a 21st century UI look like?
So, in summary it seems that the reason why all GUIs look much the same is because techies like it that way. They do not feel the need to address the obvious shortcomings, because they have learned to live with them and familiarity is more important than functionality.
As Henry Ford probably didn't say: if innovation was left to ordinary people, they would only want faster horses
It looks like we have reached that point with GUIs. And maybe operating systems, too!